diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c405161..7bf6467 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 name: Move major tag
 
+# This listens for the release being published because tag pushes do not
+# raise a workflow run in this repo. `released` is included alongside
+# `published` because promoting a prerelease to a full release fires
+# `released`, not `published`; a plain stable publish fires both, but the
+# concurrency group serialises them and the job always points the major
+# tag at the greatest stable tag in the series, so the second run is a
+# harmless no-op.
 on:
-  push:
-    tags:
-      - 'v*'
+  release:
+    types: [published, released]
 
-# One run at a time, so two tag pushes cannot both decide where a major tag
-# belongs. Queued rather than cancelled: every push should get its turn.
+# One run at a time, so two releases cannot both decide where a major tag
+# belongs. Queued rather than cancelled: every release should get its turn.
 concurrency:
   group: move-major-tag
   cancel-in-progress: false
@@ -25,12 +31,18 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Move the major tag to the newest stable release in that major
         env:
-          TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          TAG: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+          PRERELEASE: ${{ github.event.release.prerelease }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
+          if [[ "$PRERELEASE" == "true" ]]; then
+            echo "$TAG is marked as a prerelease; leaving the major tag alone"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
           # Strict semver only: no leading zeroes, no pre-release suffix, so a
-          # v1.0.1-rc.1 push cannot put v1 on a release candidate.
+          # v1.0.1-rc.1 release cannot put v1 on a release candidate.
           if [[ ! "$TAG" =~ ^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$ ]]; then
             echo "$TAG is not a stable vX.Y.Z tag; leaving the major tag alone"
             exit 0
@@ -39,9 +51,9 @@ jobs:
           MAJOR="v${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
 
           # Point the major at the greatest stable tag in the series rather than
-          # at whatever tag triggered this run. Re-pushing an old tag would
-          # otherwise walk the major backward onto a version consumers have
-          # already moved off.
+          # at whatever tag triggered this run. Re-publishing an old release
+          # would otherwise walk the major backward onto a version consumers
+          # have already moved off.
           git fetch --force --tags origin
           NEWEST="$(git tag --list "${MAJOR}.*" \
             | grep -E "^${MAJOR}\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$" \